I Know Some Lonely Houses Off the Road
poem 289
I Know Some Lonely Houses Off the Road - meaning Summary
Night Thieves and Domestic Decay
The poem sketches quiet, neglected houses that invite nocturnal thefts and secretive visitors. Dickinson observes ordinary domestic details—kitchen clocks, spectacles, heirlooms—then imagines burglars creaking through a portico, the moon peeking, and household sounds muted. The scene culminates with morning confusion: echoes, a crowing cock, and an elderly couple who misread the night’s intrusion as a simple carelessness. It is a compact meditation on vulnerability, solitude, and domestic fragility.
Read Complete AnalysesI know some lonely Houses off the Road A Robber’d like the look of Wooden barred, And Windows hanging low, Inviting to A Portico, Where two could creep One hand the Tools The other peep To make sure All’s Asleep Old fashioned eyes Not easy to surprise! How orderly the Kitchen’d look, by night, With just a Clock But they could gag the Tick And Mice won’t bark And so the Walls don’t tell None will A pair of Spectacles ajar just stir An Almanac’s aware Was it the Mat winked, Or a Nervous Star? The Moon slides down the stair, To see who’s there! There’s plunder where Tankard, or Spoon Earring or Stone A Watch Some Ancient Brooch To match the Grandmama Staid sleeping there Day ratt les too Stealth’s slow T he Sun has got as far As the third Sycamore Screams Chanticleer Who’s there? And Echoes Trains away, Sneer Where! While the old Couple, just astir, Fancy the Sunrise left the door ajar!
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